System analysis of computer and other processor-based systems is an involved and painstaking process. Such system analyses may include system testing, unit and/or module testing, and performance analysis, just to name a few.
Whatever the analysis, test data is normally required for that analysis. The creation and maintenance of such test data and the expected output generated by that test data is not a trivial task. This is particularly true when a system comprises a multitude of modules or units, and some modules require a different format for their input data and produce their output data in a different format. This is further complicated when one is dealing with multiple systems, such as a production (or customer) system and a test (or reference) system. Such test data is normally manually prepared, which takes a great deal of effort, and as such, is susceptible to errors. The art is therefore in need of an alternative method of analyzing and/or testing processor-based systems.